ACTUALITY MEDIA PRODUCTION PROCESS Documentary Storytelling The job of a documentary is to reveal a world to the audience that they were previously unaware of. It reveals this world by capturing the experiences of the people who are living within it. What your audience wants is to go inside of an experience, of a life that is not their own. It allows people to learn, explore and witness without going anywhere. Documentary is that rare medium in which the common person takes on a large important issues and shakes up society. Documentary film is not objective. Every angle, every cut, and every time you ask a question you are putting your filter on the information and crafting a story. This does not give you license to lie or make things up, but embracing this fact of the medium frees the filmmaker to take risks. Story matters. A narrative is simply a telling of an event or a series of events in a way that interests the audience. The difference between chronicling what happens and telling a story is the critical difference between an amateur and professional. It is not enough to know who, what, when and where, you have to understand what it means and why it matters. You can show why it matters through story, through drama. The difference between information and a story is the five dramatic elements. There are five things that every good story must have. Character – who or what the story is about. Conflict – what that character wants and why it is difficult to get. Stakes – ways that the meaning of the goal is elevated or the tension increases. Arc – a change or growth over the course of the story. Resolution – an answer to the big question, does the character get what they want. The first goal during the research process to determine your five dramatic elements.
Film Subject Actuality Media exists to tell stories that matter, and we do this by focusing on social entrepreneurs and their good ideas. Social Entrepreneurs are any individual or organization that is making a sustainable impact on a chronic social or environmental problems often using grassroots innovation. We do not make promotional videos. We still stories about people who are changing the world. A lot of good can come from sharing these kinds of positive stories. First, it will lead to recognition and rewards for the subject changemaker. These rewards can manifest as financial resources, human resources, or even more media attention. It can also spread the ideas to other parts of the world. If one idea can solve an ongoing problem in one community, it can do so elsewhere as well. Shedding light on solution-based development work can also help bring the entire movement of social entrepreneurship to the mainstream consciousness. When this happens our best and brightest may decide to get involved in social entrepreneurship and solve more problems, instead of pursuing profit-centered careers. “Going green” was just a pipe dream two decades ago and now it is the rule instead of the exception for most developed countries. The same can happen to social entrepreneurship.
Aside of the social benefits, telling stories that matter make for great filmmaking. The most compelling documentaries have a dynamic character who is struggling against adversity to achieve a worthy goal. Those elements are already baked into the story of every changemaker. Your job is to find the struggle. There is a lot going on within the operations of your changemaker and it is up to you to choose the story that you wish to tell. Once you identify the struggle we will work together to craft a narrative that makes it matter to your audience.
Purpose A common problem with many documentary films is that the focus is too broad. Knowing your purpose will help you make decisions in every stage of production by narrowing that focus. You can determine the purpose by answering three key questions. Who is your audience? Although you hope that audiences of all demographics will be interested in your film, it just be made with one specific audience in mind. What is the choir that you are preaching to that will then become your evangelists? What is the message? If the audience is to believe one thing after watching your film, what would that be? Remember, if you say three things, you are saying too much and you may as well say nothing. Know what you are trying to say. What is your call to action? There should be goal in mind of what action you want your audience to take after watching your film. It can be lofty or it can be simple, but if you don't know what you want, you will never achieve it. Although most important in the early stages of your film, purpose extends to every scene and every shot. The more decisions you can make about what you want to get out of every moment that you capture, the richer your film will become in the edit room.
Research There are four goals that you should have with your research stage. First, you need to become familiar with your subject and the world that they live in. You need to start to see things from a different perspective. Second, you need to understand the bigger picture. In order to make your story matter, to mean something, you need to understand how your changemaker fits into the wider context. Third, you need to come to preliminary conclusions. As a crew you need to make some decisions regarding how you feel about what is going on and why you believe it is worthwhile story to tell. Lastly, you must decide specifically what and whom you intend to film. You will not show up with cameras blazing without knowing what you are planning to take away from the scenes. Within each changemaker there are lots of stories – you need to educate yourself so you can decide which of those stories you want to tell and what you hope to achieve with that story. If you narrow the focus of your film, then you can also deepen the meaning. You want to be able to understand what is important and what is not important. You will be presented with a lot of choices. Does it matter for your story? If you just shoot with the world, with no selection, purpose or intent, what you get is surveillance footage.
Story Elements There are five elements that are present in every good story; character, conflict, stakes, arc and resolution. The stronger your dramatic elements and the more the audience cares about these elements, the better your documentary becomes. For any student of scriptwriting these concepts will be familiar but they apply to documentary as much as any fiction story. This is not the story structure but what the structure reveals as it unfolds. The character is an individual that the audience must care about. If the character is inherently unlikeable, at the very least the audience must care about the character's outcome. There must be something that your character must want very badly, and it must be attainable in some way. Your character should be active in going after what they want; passive characters are much less interesting. In some way, your character must challenge the status quo. The conflict is centered around your characters journey for their goal and the obstacles in their path. Whatever the goal is that you present, you must frame it as 'worthy' in the context of the story. It must be difficult to obtain, because if it were too easy your story would be over in minutes. It also must be tangible. 'Happiness' is not a good goal. However, a tangible goal of a house, an education, a healthy child can represent happiness if you choose to frame it that way. Regardless of goal, your audience needs to be able to track the progress through the story. In each scene the audience should know if your character is having success and moving towards the goal, or running into difficulties and taking steps away. Creating stakes in your story makes it matter more to the audience. There are two ways to do this. First, you can create a sense of urgency. The typical storytelling devices are to indicate that time is running out or that danger is increasing. Second, you can elevate the meaning of the goal, usually by giving additional information to the audience that makes them see the goal in a new light. Either way, if done effectively your audience becomes more engaged in the story. It is also always most effective to show, don't tell. Film is a visual medium, take advantage. The arc is the change that happens in the story. It is the lesson that the audience takes away, without having to go through the struggles themselves. Ways that you can show an arc is through a character's personal change. Perhaps their position in life changes, their flaws are resolved, their point of view changes, or they change their behavior changes. This change is gradual but comes to a conclusion towards the end of the story. In the resolution you need to answer the questions of the original goal. The best resolutions are unexpected but inevitable. It does not have to be upbeat or have all the answers, it can leave people questioning, but there should only be one ending. If you have multiple story threads, bring them together in the end in the most cohesive way.
Casting Casting for documentaries is simply answering two questions; who do you intend to film and what are they expected to contribute. When choosing your main character you need to consider the practical issues of interest and access. The individual should be enthusiastic about being in the film so they make it a priority in their schedule and it shouldn't be
unreasonably difficult to capture a variety of day-in-the-life scenes. You also need to consider story issues of knowledge, passion and presence. How much does the individual know about the subject you are exploring and is that important? The more they care about the issues or at least about their goal, the more the audience will care to watch their journey. Ideally, they are comfortable in front of a camera and have a compelling screen presence that invites audience engagement. The trouble with casting children as a main character is that they often don't have much to say or become shy when shooting comes around. In order to offer a variety of perspectives on the subjects and issues, your characters should all have unique contributions. You should think about them each having a job. One character can offer a male perspective and one a female. One character can offer an older generation perspective and another the younger. One can be an expert or mentor and another can be a new recruit. Your goal is to reveal multiple levels of meaning that come from multiple points of view.
Story Outline The outline is your film, on paper, as you imagine it. An outline is made up of shots, scenes and sequences that together illustrate your five dramatic elements. A shot is a single take on any image and can convey point of view, time of day, mood, emotion, character, rhythm and theme. A scene is a consecutive group of shots within a single location. It contains a beginning, middle and end, and moves the story forward. Sequences are a collection of shots and scenes that tell a story about an event, cover a series of locations, culminates in a turning point in the story; they are similar to chapters in a book. You will be instructed to create a story outline based on five part story structure. This is a condensed version of Joseph Campbell's mythic story structure and represents the way people have told stories for centuries. When writing your story outline you need to imagine your ideal shots, scenes and sequences based on your research and then put them in ideal story order. They will include visuals and sounds you wish to capture. If you include interviews in your outline, you must indicate the intent of the interview as it pertains to the story and how that interview piece will move the story forward. Sequence 1 : The Problem • introduce your character and the world that they live in • show that your character as a tangible goal • show a lack or injustice or a problem that is not getting solved • provide an irresistible invitation to your audience to come along • choose a specific point of view from which the audience sees this problem • make your audience root for your character to succeed • audience should identify with your character and care about the problem • establish what is at stake • show the impact of the problem • introduce the theme.
Sequence 2 : The Good Idea • a potential solution to the problem is introduced • begins your characters journey to fixing their problem • whether or not it will work is still unanswered • introduce additional characters that are supporters of the good idea • introduce additional characters that are opponents of the good idea • show why solving the problem is difficult • imagine the what if • conflict begins to arise Sequence 3: How It Works • shows the good idea in practice, with its highs and its lows. • a team may begin to rally around your character • show how this world is different and/or better • show how your character is changing. • the idea and your character is tested throughout this sequence • stakes begin to raise and dramatic tensions increases • more allies and enemies are involved • introduce an increased sense of urgency Sequence 4: Why • show what solving the problem would mean • show why all the hard work is worthwhile • show the peak of the change • be dramatic, focus on the themes and the deeper subject of the story • the reveal of deeper meaning should also heighten the stakes • sequence to tug on the heartstrings Sequence 5: The Answer • provides your audience with the answer to the big question • did your character get what he wanted • your character should experience a transformation from the beginning of the story • the best way to answer the question is “yes,” but in a unexpected way • reward your character if they are deserving of reward • the tension should be highest at the beginning of this sequence and • the break of tension should result in a kind of catharsis • take time reflect on the themes • show how the world had changed and what was learned • offer a finished thought to your audience When writing your outline you should title each sequence with the overall thought you are trying to convey. Brainstorm shots and scenes, facts and other information. Choose your favorite scenes and arrange them in story order. Rewrite shots and scenes in essay form. Review and make connections with theme and deeper meaning
Ethics There are two rules that all ethical documentary filmmakers abide by in their work: do not harm to the vulnerable and honor the trust of your audience. This issues are far from black and white and often require thoughtful deliberation on the part of the filmmaker to ensure they are doing it right. As a filmmaker you have power over your subject. The camera puts you in a position of higher status, and by nature of the work often filmmakers are higher socio-economic status than their subjects. Your subject have granted you that power by allowing you film to them and you must respect that. Do you can do right by preemptively protecting your subject. You can make decisions about what to include or not to include in the film based on if it will negatively impact your subject. In the end, you are just making a film, and if that causes damage to the life of a innocent person in any way, it is not worth it. You can also prevent the resale of any images to third parties. When you sell your footage you usually waive any rights of approval of use and someone else might not respect your subjects as you do. Lastly, you can share in the decision making process of what to include in the film by including your subject in any sensitive material. These principles are related to vulnerable subjects only. Most documentary filmmakers believe that if the subject themselves is unethical, or has put themselves in the spotlight or is considered to be the bad guy, then they have no qualms about exploiting the negative aspects of their reality. By calling your film a documentary you have established a contract with the audience that you will tell the truth to the best of your ability. During shooting, this means not constructing events to capture something that would not normally happen. Although some filmmakers disagree, it is generally acceptable to ask your subjects to engage in activities that are a normal part of their lives – like having a bike mechanic work on a bike while being interviewed. However, you should never ask a bike mechanic to paint a watercolor if he is not already a watercolor painter. In the edit room, where you begin to shift your allegiance from the subject to the viewer, is where you run into another set of issues regarding truth and trust. It is perfectly acceptable to collapse time – to cut things in a way that may not show the whole event or activity but the gist of the scene remains true to reality. It is also acceptable to cut coverage to resemble a fiction film, with inserts and cutaways that may not be exactly chronologically accurate. One slippery slope to be careful of is presenting how one event leads to another. The order in which you present events does not have to be chronologically accurate, but you can't insinuate that one event led to another event, if that was not the truth. If any type of recreations are shot and used the audience needs to be aware that it is such. Passing it off as real events in unethical. When dealing with people's dialogue, it is important that you do not cut their words to mean something other than what they intended by saying this.
Interviewing Conducting a good interview is making a series of decisions. It begins with adequate preparation.
• • • • • • • • • •
Decide who the interviewer will be Decide if a translator is needed Decide what the subject is contributing to the film Write all interview questions Know what sound bites you are looking for Decide who the subject will be speaking to on screen Decide if other people will be present Decide if the interviewer will be on screen Decide on the setting Decide on whether the interview will be active, sitting or standing
On the day of the interview when you arrive at the location you must make another set of decisions. • • • • • Also: • • • • • • • •
Choose the background for the interview Choose the framing Decide of any other objects will be in frame Approve the subjects wardrobe Ensure the subject has a good eye-line Get them to sign a release Turn off anything that makes noise Test the sound Alert all people to remain very quiet Let the subject know what is expected of them Tell the subject to answer questions in complete sentences Get your subject to be relaxed Established your right to interrupt
During the interview, you must lead but not smother. • • • • • • • • •
Ask several warm up questions Have a conversation Listen Ask open-ended questions Maintain eye contact Give visual, not verbal feedback Don't step on our subjects words Respect the silence Give your subject a soapbox
Thinking Visually You must be aware of the kinds of information that each frame of your documentary can communicate as well as what elements you can manipulate to affect that message. The reason that a good picture can be so much more powerful than a paragraph is because of the
amount of information that is contained within it. You have the actual content of a frame – the people, places, and things which say a lot by being present or not present - but you also have relationship between the elements in the frame that say volumes. Then you have the connection between the viewer and the elements of the frame. There are the societal standards, cliches and presumptions to use to your advantage, and each individual viewer will come to the viewing with personal experience that could result in additional emotion. A single frame can convey time, location, climate, relationships, behavior, emotion, and atmosphere. You can do this by manipulating the setting, light, point of view, frame, and telling details - the range of things that indicate specificity in a scene. You aim to say volumes visually, without words. Being able to frame images beautifully is not the same thing as being able to frame meaningful images beautifully. The way to create a meaningful image is to take advantage of all the elements of the frame and manipulate them to support the point you are trying to make. If you are going to move the camera in any way while filming, it needs to be motivated. The types of movement that exist for camera are: pan, tilt, track, push, boom, zoom, and rack. Dolly, jib and handheld are not types of movement but ways to conduct movement, and by definition must also be motivated. You can motivate movement by staying on a subject as it moves through environment, drawing focus to something specific in a scene, giving perspective to an event by revealing a bigger picture, and much more. Always think about what each shot and each scene is supposed to say before, during and after you shoot it.